A meeting of the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has approved two months' salaries of the employees of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM). The ECC meeting chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday also considered a proposal of Ministry of Water & Power and approved amendments in agreement between Central Power Purchasing Authority (CPPA) and M/S Rousch, FKPCL and Davis Energen pertaining to revised payment mechanism, aiming to facilitate payments of imported RLNG by IPPs to Gas Suppliers.
The ECC also granted tax exemption on a proposal of Ministry of Interior to Narcotics Control Division on scanning equipment donated by the government of Saudi Arabia to Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) with the objective to enhance its capabilities in eradicating narcotics/drugs.
The Finance Minister directed that in all such cases in future, advance approval for exemptions may be sought by the ministries/divisions concerned. The Economic Affairs Division was also directed to issue a circular to all the Ministries/Divisions in this regard. The ECC also approved the Draft Implementation Agreement for imported R-LNG based power projects in the public sector. After deliberations over the proposal submitted by the Ministry of Water & Power regarding Term Finance Facility for Power Holding (PVT) Ltd, the ECC accorded approval to extend repayment period under the facility from fifteen (15) months to five(5) years including extension in grace period from 03 months to 24 months, while other terms and conditions would remain the same.